What If...Each Morning Was Christmas Morning?

“Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.” -- Psalm 37:4 NIV

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. “You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him. -- Matthew 7:7-11 NLT

Remember Christmas morning when you were a kid? It was hard to go to sleep the night before because we were so stricken with anticipation. Waking up the next morning and running in to see what lay under and around the tree, the excitement could barely be controlled...and forget about containing it. It honestly didn't matter what was waiting for us there, it was just exciting to know that some new and really great stuff awaited us. Sure, there were things I hoped to get each year...but it was the coolness to be getting something given with love that made it exciting. Even when times were tough and the presents weren't the coolest, most expensive ones it was still the greatest day of the year, and though I'm much older now I still feel that way. It's just really cool to be surrounded by the people I love getting cool stuff and, even better, getting to give good stuff.

So what if we treated every morning like it was Christmas morning? What if we went out of our way to make sure we had the blessing of giving to others and seeing their excitement? What if we went to God and made a list of the presents we'd like to receive? And to follow that up, what if we woke up each day being grateful for everything our Father give us?

Too many of us spend way too much time being jealous of the blessings bestowed on others. We tend to look at our blessings and feel like they weren't really meant for us. And I think there are times when we focus on ourselves and say things like, "I wish I could help out but I just don't have the time" or "If the economy wasn't so bad I would be able to give that charitable gift again this year".

My hope for each of us, myself included, is that the start of each day would be a time of excitement. That we might wake up with that same level of anticipation of a child on Christmas morning, looking forward to the blessings God has laid out before us. I want to take those blessings and make my joy and peace and faith so obvious that it's contagious. I want to take my blessings and bless others with them so that they can experience what it's like to wake up each morning as a redeemed child of God.

Now, go out there and show the world what that looks like!